Two years COVID-19 pandemic: Development of university students' mental health 2020–2022

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Psychiatry

Tanja Brock¹  Jan Schuhr¹  Sabrina Baldofski²  Lukas Guenthner²  Christine Rummel-Kluge³  Elisabeth Kohls³ 

[1] Centre for Research, Further Education and Consulting, University of Applied Sciences for Social Work, Education and Nursing Dresden, Dresden, Germany;Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany;Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany;Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany;

关键词: COVID-19;    university students;    mental health;    depressive symptoms;    alcohol consumption;    symptoms of anxiety;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1122256

 received in 2022-12-12, accepted in 2023-03-21,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe literature indicates a negative impact on the mental health of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. It remains unclear if this negative impact persists even after lockdown measures are lifted. The current study therefore investigates the mental health status of students by drawing on two previous studies the present study seeks to investigate differences in the mental health status across three time points.MethodsA cross-sectional, anonymous online survey among students of six universities was conducted between April and May 2022 (N = 5,510). Symptoms of depression, anxiety, hazardous alcohol use and eating disorders as well as social and emotional variables were assessed utilizing standardized instruments. Risk- and protective factors for severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms were investigated using multiple regression models. Differences in e.g., symptoms of depression across three time points were assessed with one-way analysis of variance.ResultsMore than one third of students exhibited clinically relevant symptoms of depression (35.5%), hazardous alcohol use (33.0–35.5% depending on gender) or anxiety disorder (31.1%). Taken together, almost two out of three (61.4%) students reported clinically relevant symptoms in at least one of the aforementioned symptom patterns, while almost one fifth of students reported suicidal ideation or thoughts of self-harm (19.6%). Higher perceived stress and loneliness significantly predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms, while resilience and social support were identified as protective factors. Compared to 2020 and 2021, levels of depressive symptoms were significantly reduced in 2022, levels of hazardous alcohol consumption showed a small but significant increase from 2021 to 2022. Worryingly, prevalence of suicidal ideation was the highest yet, being significantly higher than in 2020 (14.5%) and 2021 (16.5%).ConclusionThese results confirm previous results that the pandemic had and still has a negative impact on the mental health of university students. The present study broadens this view by the fact that some areas seem to recover quicker, while others seem to increase worryingly. Especially the persistent rise in suicidal ideation from 2020 to 2021 and to 2022, a constant reduction in reported social support and associated perceived loneliness is concerning. The claim for low-threshold and accessible mental health support for university students remains the same as in the beginning of the pandemic.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Kohls, Guenthner, Baldofski, Brock, Schuhr and Rummel-Kluge.